I am wondering whether anyone has thought about the fact that steaming audio
using IP technology of any kind to a portable device will require a two way
link. The link from the mobile unit will need a transmitter in contrast to a
DBS satellite radio that needs only a downlink. Seems like a lot of power will
be consumed by a battery-powered device that will be continuously radiating any
time one is listening to the radio. I think DBS makes a lot more sense
especially when one considers the possible radiation hazard effects of
continuous RF exposure.
I used a 3G internet link in Ireland at a remote cottage I rented a few years
ago to bridge a distance of about 10 miles line of sight over a valley. It
worked, but the antenna which was in a thumb-type device at the end of a USB
cable had to be oriented in the direction of the tower. What happens in a car
when one turns a corner? Of course a broad beam antenna could be used but that
would require even higher power levels from the base and mobile transmitters to
make up for the lost antenna gain and a broad beam would be subject to
multipath distortion that might corrupt the 3G transmission at the data rates
needed for IP music transmission.
Meanwhile, I think I'll keep my Sirius subscription. And if I get tired of
paying the subscription fee, I can always connect a thumb drive memory stick
into the USB port on the front panel of my dashboard and play 4 gigs worth of
MP3s through the car radio.
And if I want to watch TV while driving I can buy a FLO receiver that gets 20
programs in a single 6 MHz channel and requires no transmitter because the
technology is not IP based. Of course I won't watch TV for long because I will
either kill myself being I am distracted, or the State will soon outlaw FLO
receivers where the driver can see the screen as they already did back when
terrestrial TV of the obsolete analog form was routinely used by truck drivers.
Joe Buch
_______________________________________________
Internetradio mailing list
[email protected]
http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/internetradio
To unsubscribe: Send an E-mail to
[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe, or visit the URL
shown above.
